TRADES AND INDUSTRIES The Federal and State schools for technical education are under the jurisdiction of the Instituto Politécnico Nacional, also a major division of SEP. Operating under this system are 31 schools which offer training at one or more educational levels from primaria through professional studies. There are 8 professional schools in the Instituto Politécnico Nacional and professional work is offered in certain fields by 5 of the Institutos Tecnológicos in the States. In the capital there are 5 vocational schools of preparatoria level, 5 escuelas tecnológicas at the secundaria level (pre-vocational), and the Escuela Wilfrido Massieu. Outside the capital are 6 technological institutes, and 6 special schools located as follows: Instruction in the technological and industrial institutions includes a great variety of work. The younger students may enter, instead of the regular secundaria, a prevocational school which will orient and prepare them for the vocacional or equip them for employment, at the same time including an academic program basically the same as the secundaria. There are three types of training open to older persons who have completed only primaria or the rudiments of reading, writing, and arithmetic: (1) Technical Preparation of Youth, for adolescents over 15 years of age who have no work experience but nevertheless have to earn a living in industry, (2) Workers' Training, for persons employed in industry who need more technical training to become proficient on the job, and (3) Reeducation of Adults, for workers who want to enter a different or more remunerative line of work. These studies all include practical work leading to one of the following certificates: Two types of training are available to persons who have finished the secundaria or its equivalent: (1) Subprofessional, for persons who hold intermediate positions between the workmen and professional directors of industrial enterprises; and (2) Vocational, for students planning to enter professional courses of the Instituto Politécnico Nacional or other technological institutes. The subprofessional studies are generally 3 years in length, although in certain fields the training may be for 1, 2, or 4 years. Upon completion of the subprofessional course the student receives one of the following certificates: Table N.-Subprofessional certificates from vocational schools and technological institutes (SEP, 1953) The schools which are designated as vocacional have 2-year programs preparing for admission to professional courses in one of the following fields: chemical engineering, mechanical and electrical engineering, civil engineering and architecture, textile engineering, biological sciences, pharmacy, and social and economic sciences. The professional schools are listed with other institutions of higher education, page 66. Counting students in the professional courses, the Instituto Politécnico Nacional and its affiliates imparted technical education to 24,000 students during the 1955 school year. Its budget was 40 million pesos, 9 million more than in 1954. Through extension programs as well as regular courses it is helping to increase the nation's pool of skilled and semiskilled industrial labor. The Instituto Politécnico Nacional uses its facilities and specialized personnel also to conduct research concerning the resources and industrial needs of the various regions of the country. Such investigations, particularly those dealing with foods, metals, and textiles, provide the basis for overall planning of the technical program under the supervision of SEP and help determine how effectively the educational institutions are meeting the need for workers and specialists in the nation's growing industries. In addition to the vocational education provided in Government schools there are varied offerings in technical studies available in private institutions. An outstanding example of private initiative in this field is the Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, a modern school financed by businessmen of Monterrey, offering vocational, |